Melody in the movies: 1994 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...
R.D.Burman’s other films, Janam Se Pehle and Professor Ki Padosan (delayed by almost a decade) are also non-starters.

To be continued...

Melody in the movies: 1994

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...
It begins with the shocking demise of composer R.D.Burman on January 4, weeks before the music release of 1942 A Love Story, which outclasses all scores of the year and sweeps the various awards for music, lyrics and playback singing, including the Screen Awards that will be launched next year.

To be continued...

Melody in the movies: 1993

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...
R.D.Burman's Guru-Dev has the Asha-Shailendra Singh hit - the singer's last popular song - 'Jaipur se nikli gaadi'. Amit Kumar's 'Ek din tere dheere se' is lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri's only self-confessed song with a double-entendre. 'Aaja sun le sadaa', the last song even sung by the maestro is his first and only song with lyricist Sameer. Asha Bhosle is a co-singer and the song also becomes their last duet together. R.D.Burman also has his last films with two other famous associates, Anand Bakshi's Tum Karo Vaada and Gulzar's Libaas. Libaas is released on audio though the film never makes it. Lata's 'Sili hawaa chhoo gayi' and 'Khamosh sa afsana' are popular. Gardish boasts of S.P.Balasubramaniam's 'Hum na samjhe the'.

To be continued...

Ek tha Pancham, Ek hain Asha
...
I saw Pancham (RD Burman) during the days when he reigned supreme. I saw him completely in control of the "surs", the "taals", the "sargams" and all that melody in which there was a certain kind of madness, music which was music like music was never or ever before. And I saw him create his own brand of music, music that set trends, music that brought new life to music, music that thrilled, music that brought glory to music, music that danced and swayed and swung before it could lead others to react to the rhythms and beats he created from somewhere deep within his soul. I saw him command the waves of music. I saw him control and tame the voices of some of the greatest singers of all times. I saw him transform into a genie, a magician and a mad man who could transform himself, the people around him and even the atmosphere. I also saw Pancham as calm and as peaceful and as lovable when he created music exclusively for his dear friend, Gulzar. He was several composers in one and I was lucky to see all those composers, all those Panchams in one Pancham.

And then I saw him when his heart slowly started betraying him and he was almost out of work till he sprang back to glory with his fascinating music in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942 A Love Story. The unit of the film celebrated his music one night and he was in the seventh heaven and looked forward to a new beginning and the next morning before it was seven the phone rang and a voice said Pancham was dead. How could Pancham die? How can Pancham die? Pancham is still alive if you are alive to the madness that is going around the world even today, a time when men and entire groups are making a living just out of being inspired or directly imitating him and his compositions.

But the best thing to happen to Pancham to keep him alive is what he did with his companion forever, Asha Bhosle. There are times when I feel that Pancham passed on a part of his life to Asha. There is that life in Asha and she proves it even now when she is just 73! She has just come out with an album called Asha remembers Rahul. And try comparing what the two great music magicians created with the kind of music that is being created today and you will feel your heart sinking within yourselves. The Panchams and the Ashas don't happen all the time. They are once-in-several lifetime experiences which make life rich for all time. They make life feel proud.
...

j om prakash about R D Burman

Rajiv Vijayakar (Screen)
...
"When I told Sachin Bhaumick that I would produce Raja Rani for him - he had wanted to produce, direct and write and I felt that he could not have coped with the production hassles, R.D.Burman came in as a package, for he was committed to him. This angered L-P and in a huff they turned down Aap Ki Kasam though it was my debut film as director and Aaye Din Bahaar Ke was the first big film they had ever signed. So I signed Pancham for it. Around the same time, I had been fascinated by a story written by Kamleshwar and developed in collaboration with Gulzar. I asked Gulzar whether I could direct the film. When he said that he wanted to do it himself, I offered to produce it. And so was born Aandhi. The lyrics for this film were selected from among those I had marked out in their original book. Once again, R.D.Burman was my music director because he had formed a team with Gulzar.

"But for all the great music that he gave me, I always found Pancham belonging to a school that was a shade too modern for my tastes. I have always believed in the staying power of Indian music, and I would even guide my music director and thus retain control of my music while inspiring him to greater heights by stating precise requirements regarding dadra, keherwa, the raags and the instruments to be used. So I patched up with Laxmikant-Pyarelal with Aakraman and a new chapter began, which resulted in several more hits till various factors resulted in their losing form in my last films with them, Aap Ke Sath and Agnee.
...

Melody in the movies: 1992

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...
Rajesh Roshan and Anu Malik continue to be low-key while RD Burman has hit rock-bottom (Khule Aam, Drohi, Sarphira, Jhoothi Shaan).

To be continued...

Melody in the movies: 1991 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...
Laxmikant-Pyarelal's Narsimha, RD Burman's Indrajeet and Anand-Milind's Prem Quaidi are other films that sell reasonably.

To be continued...

The Grammy Company of India

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
It's a triple-whammy for our film music. Or should we say, a triple Grammy?

Well, officially it is only the Diva of Daring, Asha Bhosle, who has won a nomination (her second incidentally after Legacy, the album that she did with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan). This time Asha triumphs as a nominee (along with Kronos Quartet) as the vocalist of You've Stolen My Heart: Songs From R.D.Burman's Bollywood which has been nominated in the ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album’ category.

And so we find R.D.Burman, that trendsetting and trend-breaking remix icon, also making it close to Grammy-land, for this 'Contemporary World Music of 2005' is nothing but his songs composed between the '60s and '80s, exhibiting so aptly the timeless and futuristic modernity of his songs.

But why do we use the term 'triple whammy'?
[...]

Melody in the movies: 1988 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
R.D Burman and Gulzar come up with 'Mera kuch saamaan...' (Asha Bhosle) in Ijaazat.

To be continued...

Melody in the movies: 1988 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...Amit Kumar sings a complete album for Rajesh Khanna, the man associated with his father Kishore Kumar, in Anand-Milind's Woh Phir Aayegi. He is also the sole male singer of Rajesh Khanna's own production Jai Shiv Shankar with music by RD Burman. Neither film has any song that makes a mark.

To be continued...

Melody in the movies: 1988 (continued)

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
...Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Nasir Hussain's first film without RD Burman in 22 years.
...
Some years later, Nasir will reveal that RD was dropped only because his director-son Mansoor Khan was nervous about working with someone who had seen him as a toddler and not because of RD's diminished market status.

Someone about You've Stolen My Heart:

"It's been some time since I've come across music that feels like it's changing my life."

A fan in the making.

Melody in the movies: 1988

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)
RD Burman and Gulzar come up with 'Mera kuch saaman...' by Asha Bhosle in Ijaazat.

Meenakshi Seshadri lends her voice to the Suresh Wadkar-Amit Kumar song 'Tumhare roop ka suraj...' in Tadap, which does not get a proper release.

Sudesh Bhosle makes his debut as a singer in the voices of Shatrughan Sinha and Jagdeep in 'Holi aayi re...' with Shailendra Singh and Anuradha Paudwal in Zalzala. The film also boasts of 'Mar jaayenge hum...', which is sung by Hari Om Sharan, Uday Mazumdar, Mohammed Aziz and Hariharan. None of the songs makes an impact.

[to be continued]

Guess the Hindi song that tops world music chart

"Friday, October 07, 2005, London: Hare Ram, Hare Krishna's opening track Dum maro dum, is one of the best-known songs in the world, according to David Harrington, leader of the Kronos Quartet and who is 'up there with Stravinsky' as an orchestrator and as good as Schubert as a writer of melodies.

"In the world of music, Harrington's opinions carry immense weight. The violinist has deep knowledge of contemporary music, having commissioned for his quartet over 400 compositions for 41 albums in the past 30 years, says music critic of the Telegraph."
[...]

Melody in the movies: 1987

Rajiv Vijaykar (Screen)

...RD Burman's popular song 'Batata wada...' by SP Balasubramaniam and S Janaki is popular for a while.

Itihaas is only noted for the second and last Yesudas number under his baton. [To be continued]